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Friday, June 7, 2013

Here's a pro-tip. If your work is that renowned that you get a hardcover celebrating your work, then you've really made it in the industry. Sean Phillips is an artist who's gotten his name out there alongside Eddie Robson and now he's getting a career-spanning hardcover retrospective of his work, including over 350 pieces of artwork, 70 never-before-seen illustrations and exclusive interviews with the artist and his peers.

"Putting this book together has been a welcome reminder that I might not have wasted my life drawing comics," jokes Phillips. "Looking back, I see that I've managed a wide variety of work in a range of genres that I might not have been that comfortable with drawing beforehand. That I can still bear to look at some of this work means that it's a lot better than I thought it was at the time that I drew it. It's never as good on paper as it was in my head, but seeing the highlights brought together in a proper hardcover retrospective makes me think that maybe I've got the hang of this comics stuff after all."

For The Art of Sean Phillips, the artist has personally selected the very best, most interesting examples of his art for inclusion, from comic strips assembled with childhood friends in his bedroom, through his work for British girls' comics and 2000AD, to his role as a key artist in the early years of Vertigo, through his superhero work for Marvel, DC and WildStorm, and finally from his multiple creator-owned series with collaborator Ed Brubaker. Also, this lavish 312-page hardcover features extensive dialogues with Phillips himself, as well as contemporaries Ed Brubaker, Warren Ellis, Karen Berger, Jamie Delano, Dean Motter, Eddie Campbell, Axel Alonso, Joe Casey, Dave Gibbons and many more.

Robson, who co-writes the book with Phillips, says, "You've got a selection of his best work, mixed in with stuff that's never been seen before, and stuff that really shows off his process and his evolution as an artist. It's a lovely object, so well-designed, and seeing all the material outside a narrative context gives you a fresh appreciation of Sean's work. But we were keen for there to be value in the text too, so it's 60,000 words, which would comfortably fill a 200-page paperback on its own. It's not just a few bits of puff to fill in the spaces around the artwork; it's a full and frank account of Sean's career from the beginning to the present day. It's really enlightened me regarding Sean's work and the craft of a modern comics artist generally, and thanks to all our contributors, I'm sure it'll do the same for everyone who reads it."

Nick Barrucci, CEO and Publisher of Dynamite, expressed his enthusiasm for the project. "Sean Phillips is one of the industry's top talents - a true visionary whose artistic prowess conveys such incredible depth and drama, you can't help but be drawn into his storytelling. I leapt at the chance to get this book published, and his involvement through every step of the process has been both invaluable and a pleasure. We couldn't be happier to place his retrospective on our bookshelf alongside our successful Alex Ross, Howard Chaykin, and John Cassaday art books. Now it's time to add the beautiful Sean Phillips hardcover."

The Art of Sean Phillips is solicited in the Diamond July Previews catalog for release in October. Full press release and interiors below.

THE ART OF SEAN PHILLIPS HARDCOVER
CELEBRATES THE CAREER OF FAN-FAVORITE FATALE AND CRIMINAL ARTIST

June 5, 2013, Mt. Laurel, NJ - Dynamite Entertainment is proud to announce the October 2013 release of THE ART OF SEAN PHILLIPS by co-writers Sean Phillips and Eddie Robson, a career-spanning hardcover retrospective of the acclaimed Criminal and Fatale artist, including over 350 pieces of artwork, 70 never-before-seen illustrations, and exclusive interviews with the artist and his peers.

For THE ART OF SEAN PHILLIPS, the artist has personally selected the very best, most interesting examples of his art for inclusion, from comic strips assembled with childhood friends in his bedroom, through his work for British girls' comics and 2000AD, to his role as a key artist in the early years of Vertigo, through his superhero work for Marvel, DC, and WildStorm, and finally from his multiple creator-owned series with collaborator Ed Brubaker. Also, this lavish 312-page hardcover features extensive dialogues with Phillips himself, as well as contemporaries Ed Brubaker, Warren Ellis, Karen Berger, Jamie Delano, Dean Motter, Eddie Campbell, Axel Alonso, Joe Casey, Dave Gibbons, and many more.

"Putting this book together has been a welcome reminder that I might not have wasted my life drawing comics," jokes Phillips. "Looking back, I see that I've managed a wide variety of work in a range of genres that I might not have been that comfortable with drawing beforehand. That I can still bear to look at some of this work means that it's a lot better than I thought it was at the time that I drew it. It's never as good on paper as it was in my head, but seeing the highlights brought together in a proper hardcover retrospective makes me think that maybe I've got the hang of this comics stuff after all."

Eddie Robson, who co-writes the book with Sean Phillips, says, "You've got a selection of his best work, mixed in with stuff that's never been seen before, and stuff that really shows off his process and his evolution as an artist. It's a lovely object, so well-designed, and seeing all the material outside a narrative context gives you a fresh appreciation of Sean's work. But we were keen for there to be value in the text too, so it's 60,000 words, which would comfortably fill a 200-page paperback on its own. It's not just a few bits of puff to fill in the spaces around the artwork; it's a full and frank account of Sean's career from the beginning to the present day. It's really enlightened me regarding Sean's work and the craft of a modern comics artist generally, and thanks to all our contributors, I'm sure it'll do the same for everyone who reads it."

Nick Barrucci, CEO and Publisher of Dynamite, expressed his enthusiasm for the project. "Sean Phillips is one of the industry's top talents - a true visionary whose artistic prowess conveys such incredible depth and drama, you can't help but be drawn into his storytelling. I leapt at the chance to get this book published, and his involvement through every step of the process has been both invaluable and a pleasure. We couldn't be happier to place his retrospective on our bookshelf alongside our successful Alex Ross, Howard Chaykin, and John Cassaday art books. Now it's time to add the beautiful Sean Phillips hardcover."

THE ART OF SEAN PHILLIPS is solicited in the Diamond July Previews catalog for release in October.

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Vampirella, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more!

Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, Purgatori, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt.

In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Jae Lee, Marc Guggenheim, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner, and a host of up-and-coming new talent!

Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles - including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's Project Superpowers - have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011. The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards.